debunix wrote:We celebrate the youth of sencha, giving it the special name of shincha, and other green teas race to market as 'pre-this' and 'pre-that' plucked fresh teas. Puerh is closest by processing to a green tea, so why is there a fear of young sheng being 'unhealthy'?

If you don't feel uncomfortable drinking young sheng, then probably your body is just fine with it. But I know people who developed stomach problems by just drinking too much greener style Tie Guan Yin, which is supposed to be "milder" by sheng.

I also guess meat and dairy in diet cope better with sheng drinking. Puerh became a "royal" tea first time in China in Qing dynasty, when the rulers were meat and cheese lovers (Manchurian and Mongolian were from a nomad culture, in contrast to rulers of most other dynasties who were from an agricultural culture). And at that time, most of those royal drinkers seemed to drink very young sheng.

debunix wrote:We celebrate the youth of sencha, giving it the special name of shincha, and other green teas race to market as 'pre-this' and 'pre-that' plucked fresh teas. Puerh is closest by processing to a green tea, so why is there a fear of young sheng being 'unhealthy'? It can be very bitter if mishandled, but so can fine quality green teas that are sought after in their first flush of youth. Aging should mellow it, but that doesn't mean there is something 'wrong' with the young tea.

I am still only a few years into my puerh journey, but some of my favorite pus have been young shengs drunk in their first year or two after harvest. I think of them as young until 4-5 years, and since I bought my first puerhs in 2009, some of my 'baby' pus are now 'teenaged'.

Does new sheng pu erh and green tea taste different to you? If it does then there is a difference.

In TCM a slight difference in process or additional ingredient can make a whole lots of difference. Like mud crabs are too "cooling", but add ginger to it all is well.

It really comes down to if you believe in TCM and does your body have a negative reaction to it. Gastric problem can take time to develop, just what if you'll end up having it after a couple years? Anyway, takes anything in moderation. I personally just take young sheng on one day, aged sheng on other, then maybe back to shu. Or even mixed them all up

It's kinda like in the past where medical knowledge is lacking and parents tell children to read books with sufficient light. When the kids ask why, the parents might not have an answer then. But they only know by what others tell them from experiences and such.

A lot of factors are involved for determining the aging process i.e.1 the tea; 2 the way they are processsed and stored; 3 the level of oxidation/frementation;4 and the taste

Depending on the above factors, from personal experience, most sheng show sign of maturity after 10 years, based on dry sealed storage. So 1-5 years, maybe young, 5-10 years, maybe teenage years and maturity start after 10 years.

But too many factors are involved, aging could be earlier or later, and ultimately, yes, the taste can be used to gauge the aging process.

Young tea has its merit and older tea has its character. If you want to learn more and have better understanding on aging process, you should follow the aging process by brewing the tea every 3 months to experience the change. It is also an enjoyable and educational process. You can brew the younger tea with lesser amount of tea leaves, lower temp and faster pour to moderate the taste and strength if it is too strong.